Project Disinfect was a collaboration between Ci Yuan YEC and NUS medical school. The objective of Operation Disinfect was to spread knowledge of correct hand washing techniques as well as to emphasize the importance of practising hand hygiene to the general public. The event was held on 18th January 2012 at City Square Mall, and included storytelling, the teaching of the 7 steps hand wash technique to preschoolers, a flash mob, and the setting of a record in the Singapore Book of Records of having the greatest number of people sanitizing their hands simultaneously. Ci Yuan YEC has been a key player in this project. True to our aim of giving back to society, we have provided guidance and support throughout the planning of Operation Disinfect, while providing key logistical and financial support, and helping to spread the message of healthy living via good hygiene practices. More than 20 Kindergarten centres were involved, including Kinderland, My First SKool and PCF AMK-HG. More than 1000 pre schoolers aged 4 to 6 years old went through an hour-long educational program to help them learn and understand the importance of personal hygiene and cleanliness.

Preparations for the Halloween Fright Night Trail started out well with the help of the PA staff. Within a single day, we managed to buy all the props and the materials to finish our props. Making use of the Deepavali holiday on 26th October, we finished up with all of the preparation work.

Finally, the big day arrived on the 30th of October!

On Halloween itself, we had many volunteers and they were all very helpful with the setting up of the props. Our volunteers arrived early at Ci Yuan Community Centre to lend a hand in our preparatory work. Next, we proceeded with hair styling and makeup, and then we were all ready to get our “Scare On” at Punggol South Park! First, we did a dry run, and once everyone was clear of their roles, the scare was on and we let our first group in at 7pm! Even though the maze scared some of our younger participants, the majority of the participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves and some even went for seconds! The night flew by and we were busied by a very long queue. We even had to stop the queue early at 9.30pm sharp so that we could wrap off on time at 10pm. Despite the few bumps we had along the way, we were able to adapt really quickly and solve our discrepancies. Both our volunteers and participants had smiles on their faces and the event ended off on a high note.

As quoted from one of our volunteers, “If there’s still an event like this next year, you have to count me in! I’ll bring my friends along to help too! It’s too fun of an event to not be part of.”

Thanks to the help of our members and volunteers, we had a smooth start in our preparations and were thus able to run the event well. We are grateful to all who contributed to the huge success of Halloween Fright Night’s Maze!

Written by: Jia Ning

Edited by: Wei Ling & Louise

On the 19th of November, Ci Yuan YEC attended the PAYM 40th Anniversary Dinner. Held at Suntec City Convention Centre, the dinner celebrated PAYM’s 40th years of bringing youths and communities together. To celebrate this important milestone, several events and activities have been organised throughout the year to engage youths and the community.

The event was graced by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Labour chief and NTUC secretary-general, Mr Lim Swee Say, and Chief Executive Director of the People’s Association, Mr Yam Ah Mee, also attended the dinner.

The dinner featured a musical starring more than 50 YEC and Interest Group members and the PAYM Star Choir Performance. During the dinner, Ci Yuan Yec was also presented with the prestigious Special Recognition Award for implementing sustainable and meaningful outreach initiatives for the youths and the wider community.

Through the grand anniversary celebration, different YEC members can interact, share their opinions and in turn initiate exciting new projects to create a better community for all Singaporeans.

Written by: Jun Xiong

Editted by: Wei Ling and Louise

On the evening of 11/11/11, a special day that only happens once every 100 years, Ci Yuan YEC attended the MEWR ( Ministry of Environment and Water Resources ) Partners Networking Session.

This session presented a great opportunity for partners of MEWR to come together to share our past events and future green initiatives through Youth for the Environment Day (YED). YED actually aims to serve as a flagship national platform for youths to champion environmental ownership.

There were three presentations during the session. Firstly, there was a sharing on YED 2011 and the plans for YED 2012 by the National Environment Agency (NEA). The representative of NEA, Mr. Leong Kaiyan shared about how NEA has organized a series of activities placing emphasis on the actions of youths for the environment. Examples of such activities include the YED Resource Package given to all schools, as well as YED fund given to support all participating schools. For 2012, NEA also plans to work with key partners to carry out numerous projects such as the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement (KSBM) Youth Partnership Forum and Ci Yuan YEC’s “National Youth EnvirOlympics Challenge 2012 – No Cleaners Day”.

Secondly, Woodgrove Secondary School, the award recipient of the President’s Award for the Environment 2011 also talked about their YED (Youth for the Environment Day) 2011 efforts which led them to this prestigious award. Woodgrove Secondary School played a leading role in Youth for The Environment Day by co-organising activities that MOE North Zone Schools can participate in, such as the NEA Recycling Outreach Programme and the NEA Student Embrace Litter Free, to reinforce the message of championing environmental ownership.

Last but not least, Ci Yuan CC YEC promoted our plans for YED 2012, including our two major upcoming projects – Operation Disinfect, and No Cleaners Day.

Operation Disinfect is organised by Ci Yuan CC YEC in collaboration with the NUS medical school. It is in conjunction with the East Asian Medical Students Conference 2012, so there will be delegates coming from the East Asian region to exchange their knowledge with us. In the morning of 18th January 2012, the delegates will visit about 20 child care centres to teach the children there the correct handwashing technique. This will be followed by programmes such as a Public Flash Mob to raise awareness about maintaining personal hygiene.

As for the idea of NYEC 2012 – No Cleaners Day, which will be held on Earth Day, it originated from the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement Forum held in September. This event brings in three green components: the 3Rs (Reuse, Reduce & Recycle), anti-littering and championing environmental ownership by experiencing the daily role of our cleaners, the unsung heroes of our society. There will be exciting activities such as an Amazing Race and a record-breaking task.

There was a Q&A session where the audience raised some questions with regards to NYEC 2012 – No Cleaners Day. These questions included whether the cleaners will be paid their wages on that day (to clarify: the cleaners will still be paid!)

After the presentation, we took some photographs and the networking session commenced. Ci Yuan YEC had an enjoyable time sharing various experiences, insights and future green initatives with our fellow partners of MEWR.

Through this event, we strengthened our relations with these partners, and we hope that we can continue working with MEWR partners to promote environmental ownership to a greater audience, bringing Ci Yuan YEC to greater heights.

Written by: Yan Ting

Editted by: Wei Ling & Louise

20th November 2011 marked a special day for change at the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang GRO Pre Retreat 2011. This was a teambonding session for various grassroots leaders coming from the different grassroots organisations. It was the first time YEC has taken charge and planned for a bonding session for other grassroots leaders. It was also a first for the grassroots leaders’ to embark on the flight at iFly Sentosa. The objective of the event was to bond our leaders and discuss how to work towards our workplan, and towards 2015. The day started with an amazing race, the Photo Hunt, which took the leaders to the different corners of Sentosa in a bid to fulfill the tasks assigned to them. This warm-up activity allowed the leaders to bond and display their teamwork as they worked together to complete their given tasks.

In the afternoon, we had a fruitful discussion on improving social capitalism. Our guest of honour, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC, shared his views and gave valuable teachings. The workplan towards 2015 is the ALL CARE way. There were discussions for community improvement, and presentations held among the young and older leaders. Topics included staying relevant in our contact avenues toward residents, and the challenges that leaders are currently facing.

Through this session, we believe that all the grassroots leaders took home with them valuable pointers on helping their communities and on working as a team. Here is towards an ALL CARE community!

Written by: Yi Yun

Edited by: Wei Ling & Louise

Preparations for the Fiesta @ NKF Patients Active Day cum International Volunteer Day have come to an end. Held on 27 November 2011, the event was a learning experience for all of our members who took part. Fiesta @ NKF aimed to celebrate International Volunteer Day by recognizing the contribution of volunteers and allowing them to enjoy a morning of fun with the patients of NKF. Besides that, the event also encouraged patients to move around and take part in simple physical activities. Ci Yuan YEC hence adopted a game booth during this event that attracted both patients and volunteers to help “save the world”. “Katie Cat”, “Owen Owl” and “Debbie Duck” were deployed to NKF to help save the world, and they turned out to be a popular attraction with the crowd, drawing people from young to old to join in their mission to impart environmental awareness to the participants. All the participants had to do was to throw at least one of three balls into the hollow centre of any of the mascots to get a stamp. These stamps could be received from the other game booths and once the game card was completed, the participants could redeem a prize. Participants also had an opportunity to take home a small photo-print of themselves with our Green Mascot!

Besides adopting the game booth, Ci Yuan YEC also extended our help towards NKF in the food distribution for this event, and we also sponsored goodie bags for the patients and volunteers.

To top it all off, Ci Yuan YEC was commended for our efforts in NKF’s Grain of Hope programme. Grain of Hope is a bimonthly volunteer programme in which volunteers deliver food necessities to financially strapped patients. For their contribution and effort, 9 of our members received a certificate of appreciation.

The participants’ active participation had been the utmost support for our booth and we also realised that all it took is a simple word of encouragement for the enhancement of the participants’ confidence. As we continue on our journey in helping the NKF patients, the valuable lessons we’ve picked up along the way and the joy we bring to them were priceless, rivaled by no other rewards.

Written by: Amanda

Edited by: Louise and Wei Ling